Mauritania says US anti-slavery visit 'illegal'

Slavery was outlawed in Mauritania in 1981 but remains entrenched in hereditary system of servitude

Anti-slavery demonstrators hold a banner (R) that translates as "No to slavery and racism, no to regime of dictator slavery racist Mouhamed Abdel Aziz," as they protest last year in Dakar against the imprisonment of fellow activists in Mauritania (AFP)

The west African state of Mauritania on Saturday attacked US anti-slavery campaigners to whom it had denied entry, saying their trip would have violated the law.

A dozen campaigners landed at Nouakchott airport on Friday for a week-long visit but were refused visas, a local anti-slavery NGO said earlier.

Slavery was officially outlawed in Mauritania in 1981 but remains entrenched in a hereditary system of servitude.

"We told the American embassy, which gave us the delegation's programme, that entry visas would not be issued because we consider the programme to be in breach of Mauritanian law," government spokesman Mohamed Lemine Ould Cheikh, who is also culture minister, told AFP.

A delegation from The Abolition Institute in Chicago was denied entry into Mauritania where slavery is prevalent. https://t.co/7jFXSDJCEr

"There were no consultations with the [Mauritanian] authorities over the programme, as is customary, and it consisted only of meetings with targeted parties who are working on a specific agenda," Ould Cheikh said, without giving further details.